The Criteria for Performance Excellence in all three forms (business/government/nonprofit, healthcare, and education) identify four characteristics of the Criteria, one of which is that the Criteria are nonprescriptive. This has been a key characteristic of the Criteria since they were developed in the late 1980s. Curt Reimann, the “father” of the Baldrige Criteria, described why this was done:

“We took a standards orientation and set out to develop a nonprescriptive framework that addressed the quality requirements. We took it in that direction because we [NIST] are a standards organization, because we feel that quality is not one thing you can write a prescription for and say that prescription fits your organization and mine and his and hers. It’s a set of requirements that gives you considerable latitude in fashioning your own quality system.”¹

The nonprescriptive nature of the Criteria makes them relevant to every organization of every stripe. That’s the gift.

It’s also a curse.

It’s very hard to market a nonprescriptive approach. Look at any quality movement of the past couple decades—ISO, Lean, Six Sigma, etc.—and you will find a very prescriptive approach. Materials can be written that define the approach. Consultants can become experts in implementing the approach. Most importantly, leaders can find comfort in the steps and tools and predicted results of the approach.

“Prescriptive” is tangible. “Nonprescriptive” is open to interpretation.

Organizations that institutionalize the Baldrige model realize tangible benefits from the process. Baldrige Award recipients show world-class results in all areas that define a successful and sustainable organization. But each took its own route. There was no prescribed path.

And that’s why the Baldrige program continues to toil in relative obscurity.

¹The Baldrige Quality System by Stephen George, John Wiley & Sons, 1992

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